Labour Force; national data hit by lockdowns while QLD powers ahead

The Labour Force data for Sept from the ABS this morning show us the impact that lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and the ACT are having while also confirming that QLD (which has been largely exempted from the Delta pain felt elsewhere) has seen very solid improvements. Across the nation as …read more

The surge in regional Building Approvals is waning

Data today from the ABS confirms that the recent slowdown in building approvals growth we have seen across Queensland (year/year increase in August down to +32% from +96% as recently as March) is being driven primarily by a slowdown in the regions. The August regional data from the ABS, when …read more

Despite lockdowns Regional QLD domestic tourism stays very strong

Monthly Snapshot data for July from Tourism Research Australia released today shows that, despite the start of lockdowns taking effect in NSW and Victoria, domestic tourism in regional Queensland remained very strong (as it has been since the latter part of last year). Clearly Queenslanders are still travelling, and spending, …read more

Payrolls data confirms just how well (relatively) QLD has been doing

The latest ABS release of the weekly payrolls data to 11th Sept confirms quite how well Queensland has been doing compared to the other major states as the impact of lockdowns continue to hit NSW and Victoria hard. Over the 8 week period from 17th July the Australia payrolls index …read more

The gloomy stat behind Cairns’ good-looking unemployment rate

Although Cairns’ unemployment rate looks wonderful (4.6% Trend & 4.1% s.a. Conus/CBC Staff Selection series) there is a gloomy statistic which highlights how far behind the rest of the State the region is tracking. When we consider the rate of employment growth in Cairns relative to other places across the …read more

National Land Use and Cover estimates

Yesterday the ABS released their National Land Account experimental estimates. These provide us with a fascinating look at what the land area of Australia looks like from the perspective of land use as well as land cover. Although the data is only up to 2015/16 (and also provides changes since …read more

June National Visitor Survey shows just how well TNQ was doing before the lockdowns

Today sees the release by Tourism Research Australia of the June quarter National Visitor Survey data (see here). What it highlights is just how well the Tropical North QLD region was doing with domestic tourism before the effects of the NSW, Victoria and ACT lockdowns took their toll. For the …read more

Regional inflation; an update

The ABS-produced Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures inflation for a basket of good and services in the 8 Capital Cities and then uses that data to produce a weighted average for the nation. This is the headline inflation number with which we are all familiar; and in the second quarter of …read more

Cairns employment deep dive…August data

A lot has changed in Australia’s labour market since the COVID pandemic struck. Lockdowns, lock-outs, payroll support, increased JobSeeker payments and workers working zero hours have all had profound impacts, to the point where the headline unemployment rate (now the seasonally adjusted series since the ABS had to suspend the …read more

Public/Private employment split in QLD…it’s not what you might think

Today’s quarterly data from the ABS allows us to revisit the split between Public and Private sector employment in Queensland; and the results might surprise you. Public sector employment (which includes Federal, State and Local Government employees) is down 6.7% year-on-year (Conus seasonally adjusted series) while Private sector is up …read more

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